Thermostatically controlled door closer



March 5, 1935. w F, MOORE THERMOSTATICALLY CONTROLLED DOOR CLOSER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June '7, 1930 if; a 54 ATTORNEYj March 5, 1935. W' MOORE THERMOSTATICALLY CONTROLLED DOOR CLOSER Fil ed June 7,

1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR W0//0ce F Moore BY I /L%% TTORNEY5 March 5, 1935. w. F. MOORE THERMOSTATICALLY CONTROLLED DOOR CLOSER Filed June 7, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 XNVENTOR Wo/loce F Moore.

ORNEY5 Patented Mar. 5, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THERMOSTATICALLY CONTROILED DOOR CLOSER Wallace F. Moore, New Britain, Coma, assignor to The American Hardware Corporation, New Britain, Com, a corporation of Connecticut Application June 7, 1930, Serial No. 459,677

19 Claims- (Cl. 189-45) My invention relates to thermostatically controlled switches 6 of a standard form are in trolled systems and apparatus, and has special circuit with the several electric heating devices. reference to such systems and apparatus for There may be a thermostatic switch located in safety doors. each room in which a door closer is located, or

One of the objects of my invention is to prothe several thermostats may be located in vari- 5.

vide a novel and improved system and apparaous other parts of the building. when the temtus of this character. perature in the room in which one of the ther- Another object of my invention is to provide mostats is located reaches a predetermined demeans whereby in case of fire in one part of a gree, the circuit connection with the several building all of the doors in the building will heating devices is closed, whereupon said de- 10 close automatically. vices are simultaneously energized so as to cause A further object of the invention is to provide the several fuses to break allowing the door a fuse controlled door check and closer which is closers to close the doors. simple in construction and reliable and efficient Each of the electric heating devices is proin operation. vided with a switch which is normally closed 15 The several features of my invention, wherebut upon energizing of each heating device and by the above-mentioned and other objects may breaking of the fuse associated therewith, the be attained, will be readily understood from the switch automatically opens the circuit with that following description and accompanying drawheating device and thus obviates the danger of ings, in which: the heating device itself doing damage by exces- 20 Figure 1 is a wiring diagram of my improved sive heat after it has served its function.

system; The door check and closer shown in Figs. 2

Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly broken away, of to 5, inclusive, of the drawings is particularly a door check and closer which is particularly adapted for use in connection with my improved adapted for use in my improved system, the system. The door closer is shown applied to a door check and closer being shown attached to door case or frame 10 and a door 12, the door portions of a door and door frame; being shown open. The door closer comprises Fig. 3 is a side view, partly in section of the the usual casing 13 which is secured to the door, same; and a spring actuated door closing arm 16 which Fig. 4 is a detail rear view of an electric heatis connected by a loop 18, a connecting rod 20, 30

ing device forming a component part of the anda bracket 14 to the door frame. The spring I door closer; actuated arm 16 carries a double detent or pawl Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken on the 22 for engagement with the teeth of a ratchet line 5-5 of Fig. 4; wheel 24 connected to the door closing spring in Figs. 6 and 'l are views of the door closer the usual manner. 35 corresponding respectively to Figs. 3 and 2, but A ring 26 is adiustably secured to the upper with the electric heating device removed; end of the casing 14 and carries a plate 28 hav- Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view, on an enlarged ing a pocket 30. This pocket 30 is adapted to scale, taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8; and receive a downwardly spring pressed detent 32 Fig. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view of a carried by the spring actuated arm 16, and when 40 fusible link of novel and improved construction. the detent is received in its said pocket and its My improvedthermostatically controlled sysspring is under tension it is adapted to hold the tem is particularly adapted for use in connecdoor open. As shown, this detent comprises a tion with door checks and closers for swinging steel ball which is received in the lower end of safety doors, whereby when the temperature in a vertical aperture 34 in the spring actuated 45 one part of a building rises to a predetermined arm 18. The detent ball is pressed downwarddegree, as in the case of fire, all of the doors in 1y when in said pocket by means of a plunger the building are automatically closed. Each of 36 mounted in said aperture. which in turn is the door checks and closers is controlled by a acted-upon by a coiled spring 38 interposed befuse 2, and associated with each fuse is an electween the upper end of the plunger and a screw 50 tric heating device 4 whereby upon the electric plug 40. The downwardly spring pressed heating device being energized the solder of the plunger 86 is provided with a flange 41 that enfuse is melted so as to permit the door closer gages a stop'shoulder 43 in the aperture 34 so to close the door. as to limit the downward movement of the As h w a pl y of thermostatically conplunger so that when the ball 32 rides out of its 55 pocket and as it reaches the end of the plate 28 it drops out of engagement with the lower end of the plunger and thus is permitted to rotate freely during the completion of the closing of the door.

The door closer is further provided with thermally controlled means for releasing the tension of the detent spring 38 so as to render said spring and its associated detent plunger 36 inoperative to hold the detent ball 32 in its said pocket, and thus permit the spring actuated arm 16 to close the door. This means comprises a lever 42 mounted on the top side of the spring actuated arm 16. One end of this lever is provided with a recess 44 which loosely receives the upper end of a boss 46 on the arm 16, the aperture 34 extending through this boss. This recess 44 is provided with an aperture through which is screw-threaded the abutment plug 40 for the detent spring 38. The lever 42 is detachably fulcrumed on the arm 16 by means of an inwardly directed tongue or lug 48 thereon which is received in a slot 49 in the side of the boss 46. The outer end of the lever 42 is held down by means of a two-piece fuse 50, the two pieces overlapping and being secured together by solder of a low melting point.

The fusible link 50 is arranged vertically and has one end hooked loosely over the outer end of the lever 42 and its other end connected with the arm 16. The link extends downwardly through a large clearance opening 52 in the spring actuated arm 16.

The top side of the spring actuated arm 161s provided with a member 53 which has a recess 54receiving the outer end portion of the lever 42 when the device is in normal position. The outer end portion of the lever 42 is provided with a shoulder 56 which engages the outer face of the member 53.

A post 58 is pivoted at its upper end in a recess in the underside of the lever 42. This post extends downwardly through an elongated aperture in the arm 16, and its lower end is provided with laterally projecting shoulders, one of which is shown at 60. The sides of the posts 58 are flattened and arranged closely adjacent the side walls of the aperture through which it extends.

With this construction, when the fusible link breaks the detent spring 38 acts immediately to throw the lever 42 upwardly about the axis of the fulcrum formed by the lug 48 so as to quickly carry the upper part of the fuse a substantial distance above the lower part. Moreover, as the lateral shoulder 60 on the post 58 strikes the underside of the arm 16, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the lever is forced inwardly a sufiicient distance to disengage the fulcrum lug 48 from the upper wall of the slot in which it is received. Thus upon the fuse breaking. the spring actuated arm 16 is permitted immediately to close the door.

Except as hereinafter described, the parts of the door check and closer above referred to may be and preferably are the same as the corresponding parts of the door check and closer described and claimed in applicant's pending application Ser. No. 317,892, filed November 8, 1928.

In accordance with the present invention, the opening 52 in the door closing arm 16 through which the fusible link extends, is formed by means of an enlarged collar portion on the arm so that the link when positioned is spaced far away from all parts of the door closing arm.

and thus air in the room isfree to circulate about the link.

Also, in the illustrated construction, means is provided for effectively heat-insulating the fusible link from the cool parts of the check so that in case of fire immediate breaking of the fuse is insured. To provide for this,'a member 62 of a low heat conducting alloy has one end portion inserted in a slot 64 in the arm 16 and is secured therein by pins 66. The inserted end of the member 62 may in turn be heat-insulated from the arm 16 by means of fiber'strips 68 on the sides thereof. The member 62 extends forwardly centrally of the opening 52, and a plug of heatinsulating fiber 64 is secured on the under side of its inner end and is provided with a transverse groove or recess located substantially centrally of the opening 52. This recess in the block 64 is for the purpose of receiving the lower end of the fusible link 50.

A member '70, also of an alloy of low heat conductivity, is secured by pins '12 in a slot in the outer end of the lever, this being heat-insulated from the lever 42 by means of strips of heat-insulating fiber 74. The outer end of the member 70 has a block of fiber '16 secured on its upper side andprovided with a groove or recess 65 for receiving the upper end of the fusible link 50, the link thus being hooked over the fiber blocks 64 and 76 on the members 62 and 70.

The guiding member 53 having the slot 54 for receiving the end portion of the lever 42 is also preferably made of an alloy of low heatconductivity.

To still further heat-insulate the fusible link from the parts of the check, eyelets '78 (Fig. 9) of fiber or other material of low heat conductivity may be secured in the apertures 79 in the ends of the link.

To obviate the danger of the link being jarred from its supporting members during the normal operation of opening and closing the door, a. leaf spring 80 has one end secured to the member 70 and its other end bent upwardly and downwardly so as to extend over the upper end of the fusible link, this construction also permitting the link to be easily removed and replaced upon lifting up the outer end of the leaf spring.

The electric heating device 4 of each door closer, which may be of a common cigar lighter type having a heating element 81 in its end, is mounted in a socket 82 (Figs. 4 and 5) in a block of insulating material which is secured across the collar portion of the arm 16 by screws 84 that extend through apertures in lugs 86 on the block and are screw-threaded into said arm.

The block is provided with binding posts 88. One of the binding posts 88 is connected by a wire 89 with the shell of the heater socket, and the other post is connected by a conductor 90 with the other terminal 91 of the socket. This latter conductor 90 is in the form of a flat spring the inner end of which is bent over one or more times and extends beneath a plunger pin 92 which is normally held down by the engagement of its upper end with the under side of the lever 42.

When the fuse breaks, the lever 42 releases the plunger pin 92 allowing the spring to separate from the terminal of the socket. thus opening the circuit connection with the heating device.

The face of the heating device is spaced away from the fuse a suitable distance so as to permit free circulation of air over the fuse so that even though the heating device fails to function, in

case of fire in the room in which the door closer is located, the fuse will break upon the temperature of the room reaching a predetermined degree.

The wires connected with the binding posts are passed down through the opening 52 and secured to the under side of the arm 16 by a clamp 93. From the clamp the wires are bent up over the outer end of the arm 16 and extend through a protecting tube 94 secured by clips 95 on the top side of the loop 18 and connecting-rod 20. The tube is detachably secured so as to permit it to be easily removed to allow for adjustment of the loop and connecting-rod.

While my improved door check and closer is particularly adapted for use in a system of the character indicated, it may be used separately without an electric heating device, as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. It will also be apparent that while my improved system is particularly adapted for use in connection with safety doors, certain features thereof are well adapted for use in connection with other devices.

As will be evident to those skilled in the art, my invention permits various modifications without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

i. In a thermostatically controlled system the combination of a plurality of fuses, electric heating devices respectively associated with said fuses each serving when energized to effect breakage of its associated fuse, thermostatic devices in circuit with said heating devices whereby upon a rise in temperature to a predetermined degree of the room in which one of the thermostatic devices is located all of said heating devices are energized, and means acting automatically upon breaking of each fuse to open the circuit connection with the heating device associated therewith.

2. In a thermostatically controlled system the combination of a fuse, electric heating devices respectively associated with said fuses each serving when energized to efiect breakage of its associated fuse, a thermostatic device in circuit with said heating devices whereby upon a rise in temperature to a predetermined degree of the room in which said thermostatic device is located, the circuit is closed so as to energize said heating devices, and means acting automatically upon breaking of each fuse to open the circuit connection with the associated heating device.

3. In a thermostatically controlled system the combination of a door closer comprising a spring tending to close the door, a holding device for holding the door open against the tension of said spring, and means comprising a fuse acting automatically upon breakage of the fuse to release said holding means, an electric heating device associated with said fuse serving when energized to effect breakage of the fuse, and a thermostatic device in circuit with said heating device whereby upon a rise of temperature to a predetermined degree the circuit connection with said heating device is closed.

4. In a thermostatically controlled system the combination of a plurality of door closers, each comprising a spring tending to close the door, a holding device for holding the door open against the tension of said spring, and means comprising a fuse for releasing said holding means upon breakage of the fuse, an electric heating device associated with each fuse serving when energized to effect breakage of the fuse. and a plurality of thermostatic devices in circuit with the several heating devices whereby when the temperature of tendingtoclose the door,aholding device for hold-,

ing the dooropen against the tension of said spring,

and means comprising a fuse to release said holding device, an electric heating device associated. with each fuse'and serving when energized to effect breakage of the fuse, a thermostatic device in circuit with the heating device whereby when the temperature of the room in which the thermostatic device is located rises to a predetermined degree the circuit is closed so as to energize the heating device, and means acting automatically upon breakage of the fuse to open the circuit connection with the heatin device.

6. In a door closer the combination of means comprising a spring tending to close the door, a holding device for holding the door open against the tension of said spring, means comprising a fuse for releasing the holding device upon breaking of the fuse, and an electric heating device spaced from the fuse and serving when energized to melt the fuse.

'1. In a door closer the combination of means comprising a spring tending to close the door, a holding device for holding the door open against the tension of said spring, means comprising a fuse acting when the fuse is broken to release said holding device to permit said spring to close the door, an electric heating device associated with the fuse serving when energized to melt the fuse, a switch in circuit with the heating device for opening and closing the circuit, and means acting automatically upon breakage of the fuse to open said circuit.

8. In a door closer, the combination of a spring actuated door closing arm. a stop member, a cooperating detent carried by said arm and adapted to engage said stop member when the door is open, a spring for maintaining said detent in holding engagement with said stop member to hold the door open when said spring is under tension, a lever having one end fulcrumed on said arm adapted to be swung toward and from said am, a fusible link having one end connected with the other end of said lever and its other end connected with said arm, an electric heating device mounted on the arm and serving when energized to melt the fuse, and an abutment on said lever for holding said spring under tension whereby upon breaking of said fuse the tension of said spring is relieved.

9. In a door closer, the combination of a spring actuated door closing arm, a stop member, a cooperating detent carried by said arm and adapted to engage said stop member when the door is open. a spring for maintaining said detent in holding engagement with said stop membento hold the door open when said spring is under tension. a lever having one end fulcrumed on said arm,

adapted to be swung toward and from said arm,

a fusible link having one end connected with the holding said spring under tension whereby upon" breaking of said fuse the tension of said spring is relieved. a switch associated with said heating device, and means for holding the switch closed when the fuse is in position and opening the switch upon breaking of the fuse.

10. In a door closer the combination of a spring actuated door-closing arm, a device for holding the arm in a predetermined position to hold the door open, means comprising a fusible link for releasing the holding device upon breakage of the fuse, and heat-insulated material for heat-insulating the fusible link from said arm.

11. In a door closer the combination of a spring-actuated door-closing arm, a stop memher, a cooperating detent carried by said arm and adapted to engage said stop member when the door is open, a spring for maintaining said cletent in holding engagement with said stop member to hold the door open when said spring is under tension, a lever having one end tulcrumed on said arm adapted to be swung toward and from said arm about the axis of its fulcrum, said am having a collar portion extending 1ongitudinally thereof, a hook member of heat insulating material extending forwardly from the rear portion of the inner wall of said collar portion, a hook member of heat insulating material extending outwardly from the free end of said lever with its outer end positioned above the inner end of said first-mentioned hook member, and a fusible link having its ends hooked over the ends of said hook members so as to be arranged in vertical position and spaced from the wall 01 said collar portion. and an abutment on said lever for holding said spring under tension whereby upon breaking of said fusible link the tension 01' said spring is relieved.

12. A fusible link having eyelets of heat insulating materiel inserted in apertures in the ends thereof.

13. Means for supporting a fusible link comprising two members of a metal of low heat conductivity, the fusible link having its ends secured to opposed ends of said members, and heat insulating material interposed between said members and the ends of said link.

14. The combination of a door, a door closer comprising means tending to close the door, and a holding device for holding the door open against the tendency of said closing means to close the door, controllable means comprising an electric circuit for effecting release of said holding means when the circuit is closed, and means acting automatically upon release of said holding means for opening the circuit.

15. The combination of a. fusible link, supporting means of non-heat insulating material for the ends of the link, and heat insulating material interposed between the ends of the-link and said supporting means.

16. An article of manufacture comprising a fusible link, and members of heat insulating material secured to the ends of the link.

17. In a door closer, the combination of a spring actuated door closing arm, a device for holding the arm in a predetermined position to hold the door open, means comprising a, fusible link for releasing said holding device, and supporting means for the link tending to prevent the transfer of heat between said closer and link.

18. In a door closer, the combination of a spring actuated door closing arm, a device for holding the arm in a predetermined position to hold the door open, means comprising a, fusible link for releasing the holding device upon breakage of the fuse, and members of heat insulating material for supporting said link.

19. In a door closer, the combination of a spring actuated door closing arm, a device for holding the door in a predetermined position to hold the door open, means comprising a fusible link for releasing the holding device upon breakage of the fuse, holding members for the fuse having recessed portions for supporting said link, and inserts oi. heat insulating material in said recesses, said members spacing the link from said closer so as to heat insulate the link from said closer.

WALLACE F. MOORE. 

